Dr DIANA POPESCU Diana.Popescu-Sarry@nottingham.ac.uk
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
Post-Truth is Misplaced Distrust in Testimony, Not Indifference to Facts: Implications for Deliberative Remedies
Popescu-Sarry, Diana
Authors
Abstract
How should we deliberate with citizens who entertain post-truth beliefs in democratic societies? This is a central question for those interested in wielding the epistemic potential of democratic deliberation against post-truth. Yet, the strength of proposed deliberative solutions depends on the accuracy with which post-truth is diagnosed. Taking seriously the connection between epistemic diagnosis and deliberative remedy, this paper looks at the motivations provided by non-vaccinating parents for their beliefs and argues for an understanding of post-truth as misplaced distrust in testimony, as against a standard view of post-truth as indifference to fact. Second, the paper argues this new diagnosis of post-truth renders ineffective deliberative strategies aiming to harness the power of impersonal reason and accuracy, of the kind recently defended by Simone Chambers. Instead, combating post-truth as the paper defines it is effectively accomplished through employing bridging rhetoric.
Citation
Popescu-Sarry, D. (2024). Post-Truth is Misplaced Distrust in Testimony, Not Indifference to Facts: Implications for Deliberative Remedies. Political Studies, 72(4), 1453-1470. https://doi.org/10.1177/00323217231194822
| Journal Article Type | Article |
|---|---|
| Acceptance Date | Jun 20, 2023 |
| Online Publication Date | Sep 11, 2023 |
| Publication Date | Nov 1, 2024 |
| Deposit Date | Oct 25, 2023 |
| Publicly Available Date | May 2, 2025 |
| Journal | Political Studies |
| Print ISSN | 0032-3217 |
| Electronic ISSN | 1467-9248 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications |
| Peer Reviewed | Peer Reviewed |
| Volume | 72 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 1453-1470 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1177/00323217231194822 |
| Keywords | Post-truth; deliberative democracy; antivaxxer; trust; bridging rhetoric |
| Public URL | https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/26528384 |
| Publisher URL | https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/00323217231194822 |
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Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2023
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